Marcos 8
R.C.H. Lenski · Citado em PreceptAustin
Marcos 8
Lenski - He had an important communication to make to them. Jesus, however, says nothing about his own future course. That is fixed once for all. He speaks about the course of those who would be his disciples.
Marcos 8
Lenski - This will mean that “he take up his cross” (αἴρειν). Jesus undoubtedly chose this figure because he himself was to be crucified. Although this was a Roman mode of execution it was known universally. Jesus will bear his cross, one which he alone can bear. Of his disciples he says that each is to bear his cross, i. e., the particular one allotted to him. This word has grown too familiar by constant use. It is a mistake to call all our suffering a cross. The wicked have many sorrows (Ps. 32:10) but no crosses. The cross is that suffering alone which results from our faithful connection with Christ. And the intimation is that each disciple will have his share of such suffering. The thought grows overwhelmingly: Christ with his cross leads, and all his disciples, each loaded with his cross, follows in one immense procession, like men who are led away to be crucified. Paul carries the figure farther: they that are Christ’s have crucified the flesh (Gal. 5:24); and Paul himself is crucified with Christ (Gal. 2:20). The earthly prospects of a disciple are not alluring. However heavy your cross may be, he helps you bear it after him. (Page 348 - The Interpretation of St Mark's Gospel) Mark Strauss - to “take up your cross” does not mean to accept a life of hardship, as the idiom is sometimes used today. It means to subject oneself to excruciating and shameful execution by crucifixion. Of course, this will not mean actual martyrdom for all, but a willingness to renounce all for Christ. Luke explicitly introduces this metaphorical sense by adding “daily” (καθʼ ἡμέραν; 9:23) to Mark’s “take up his cross.”(Mark Commentary from Zondervan - page 372) Other thoughts on taking up Cross - Take up one's cross is a metaphor -A figure of speech in which a word or phrase that ordinarily designates one thing is used to designate another,thus making an implicit comparison, Jesus' command would immediately bring to every hearer's mind the vivid image in which one who would seek to follow Jesus is likened to a condemned criminal carrying the transverse beam of his own cross to the place of execution In the writings of Plutarch (De sera numinis vindicta (9.554b) we read "Every criminal who is executed carries his own cross." Keep in mind the temporal context -- Jesus has not yet been crucified but He would be and so these words would even be more powerful after His crucifixion to anyone who sought to be His follower or disciple. So it does not mean to be physically crucified Instead it means to renounce all claims on self -- self's interest (cf Jesus' words "man's":interest in Mk 8:33) are no longer to be supreme. Self in fallen man is "number one" but is to be "dethroned" in effect to be crucified (Gal 2:20) The cross was an especially shameful way to die in that culture; in ours, we might feel the impact better if we paraphrased, “take along an electric chair (or lethal injection; or hangman’s scaffold).” CROSS REFERENCES ON BEARING ONE'S CROSS... Mark 10:21 Looking at him, Jesus felt a love for him and said to him, “One thing you lack: go and sell all you possess and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow Me.” Matthew 10:38 “And he who does not take his cross and follow after Me is not worthy of Me. (NOTE - "WORTHY" is "axios" which is a Pix of a scale with weights on each side. Jesus on one side of scale and us on the other -- the only way we can "balance" the scales with Him on the other side is to "imitate" Him enabled by His Spirit and thus be willing to take up our cross like He did). Mt 27:32 as they were coming out, they found a man of Cyrene named Simon, whom they pressed into service to bear His cross. Acts 14:22 strengthening the souls of the disciples, encouraging them to continue in the faith, and saying, “Through many tribulations (THESE ARE A PICTURE OF BEARING OUR CROSS) we must enter the kingdom of God.” (Other tribulations do not earn or merit entrance but demonstrate we are truly His disciples, suffering shame because of His Name.) 1 Cor 1:18 For the word of the cross (INCLUDING JESUS CALL TO "TAKE UP OUR CROSS) is to those who are perishing foolishness, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God. (WE EXPERIENCE HIS POWER WHEN WE ARE WILLING TO TAKE UP OUR CROSS). 1 Peter 2:21 For you (FOLLOWERS OF CHRIST) have been called for this purpose (SEE "PURPOSE" IN VERSE 20! = TAKING UP ONE'S CROSS), since Christ also suffered for you, leaving you an example for you to follow in His steps, John 19:17 They took Jesus, therefore, and He went out, bearing His own cross, to the place called the Place of a Skull, which is called in Hebrew, Golgotha. Gal 6:14 But may it never be that I would boast, except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, through which the world has been crucified to me, and I to the world. Colossians 1:24 Now I rejoice in my sufferings for your sake, and in my flesh I do my share on behalf of His body, which is the church, in filling up what is lacking in Christ’s afflictions. 1 Peter 4:1; 13 Therefore, since Christ has suffered in the flesh, arm yourselves also with the same purpose, because he who has suffered in the flesh has ceased from sin, (4:13) but to the degree that you share the sufferings of Christ, keep on rejoicing, so that also at the revelation of His glory you may rejoice with exultation. SOME QUOTES RELATED TO TAKING UP CROSS - Vance Havner -- What our Lord said about cross-bearing and obedience is not in fine type. It is in bold print on the face of the contract. Billy Graham in “The Offense of the Cross” -When Jesus said, “If you are going to follow me, you have to take up a cross,” it was the same as saying, “Come and bring your electric chair with you. Take up the gas chamber and follow me.” He did not have a beautiful gold cross in mind—the cross on a church steeple or on the front of your Bible. Jesus had in mind a place of execution. Jesus was crucified, not in a cathedral between two candles, but on a cross between two thieves. - George F. MacLeod The cross cannot be defeated, for it is defeat. - Gilbert K. Chesterton There are no crown-wearers in heaven who were not cross-bearers here below. - Charles Haddon Spurgeon We need men of the cross, with the message of the cross, bearing the marks of the cross. - Vance Havner Christ’s cross is such a burden as sails are to a ship or wings to a bird. - Samuel Rutherford He came to pay a debt He didn’t owe because we owed a debt we couldn’t pay. - Anonymous The old cross slew men; the new cross entertains them. The old cross condemned; the new cross amuses. The old cross destroyed confidence in the flesh; the new cross encourages it. A.W. Tozer All heaven is interested in the cross of Christ, all hell is terribly afraid of it, while men are the only beings who more or less ignore its meaning. - Oswald Chambers The cross: God’s way of uniting suffering with love. - Georgia Harkness The figure of the Crucified invalidates all thought which takes success for its standard. - Dietrich Bonhoeffer The cross is the lightning rod of grace that short-circuits God’s wrath to Christ so that only the light of His love remains for believers. A. W. Tozer in “The Old Cross and the New.” When the will of God crosses the will of man, somebody has to die. Thomas a Kempis, Imitation of Christ: What hindereth thee more than thine affections not fully mortified to the will of God?